āi couldāve had a kid then, too. there were some potential suitors lined up.ā rhi quipped with a casual shrug.Ā āalas, i turnedĀ āem all down.ā
rhiannon, in a strange turn of events, opted out of driving to work today. the commute usually only took about a five minute drive, but with a little pep in her step, she walked there in twenty. it was a beautiful morning when sheād woken up, so she chose to enjoy the fresh air. luckily enough, it was only another ten minute walk from leviās house to hers.
āha ha hollows legs. youāre hilarious.ā rhi deadpanned, giving his side a little pinch, though she grinned all the same.Ā āyou know iām not really the picky time. whatever you want is cool with me.ā
levi snorts.Ā āyeah, right. your parents wouldāve fucking murdered you. and the dude. and his parents, just for giving birth to him,ā he retorts, laugh bubbling from him. he shakes his head a little - his parents wouldāve been the same if heād been that age when ramona got pregnant - hell, they were still pretty pissed that he was only 22 when it happened.Ā
levi pulls away from rhi a little when she pinches him, letting out a noise of complaint, nose wrinkling up.Ā āiām just sayinā. you weight like, five pounds tops.ā he taunts, shrugging his own wide shoulders a little.Ā āhey, if iām payinā you gotta choose. thatās the rules.āĀ
āYeah, maybe,ā Cora agreed.Ā āBut, I do want to get something permanent. Some thing that is my choice to get. Iām such an inside the box thinking kind of person though that all I could come up with is getting a tattoo. What else could be so permanent?ā
levi shrugs.Ā ātattoos can be removed. they fade - you can get laser,ā he replies.Ā ānothingās reallyĀ permanent, yāknow? not to uh, be morbid, or anything.ā
āyou could always get something subtle to test the waters - if you get it in a place that isnāt hyper-visible itās pretty easy to forget itās there. i mean, i have part of my scalp tattooed and the only time i really remember it is when i have a conversation like this.āĀ
āIt looks like Iām struggling because I amā another box falls with yet another frustrated sighĀ āmy car isnāt quite made for this level of donations.ā She turns to voice with a slightly strained smileĀ āif you are offering help I definitely wouldnāt say no.ā
āthatās what i assumed,ā levi replies blandly, taking no mind of the slight bite of frustration in her tone. he cocks a scarred brow, stooping to scoop up one of the boxes thatād escaped her boot.Ā
āi think you might need to make moreān one trip, sis. or get a bigger vehicle.āĀ
āyou know youāre only five years older than me, right? not twenty?ā rhiannon asked, laughing as they walked out of the shop. the way he talked about himself made it sound like he was a decrepit or something. it was comical, actually.
she tucked into his side easily, arm wrapping around his waist as they fell into step. he towered her by at least a foot plus a handful of inches, so it was always nice walking with him the way they were. she felt safer this way, even though she was the one with the magic.
āfine, hold me to it.ā rhiannon replied, looking up at him with a roll of her eyes.Ā āi can keep it. i swear. iām, like, incapable of breaking promises.ā
āfive years is a long time,ā levi drawls in response.Ā āi had a kid when you were still in high school - iām basically a hundred.ā his mouth curls, little huff of a laugh punctuating the end of his sentence.Ā
levi squeezes his arm around rhiannonās shoulders a little - he generally didnāt drive to work, as he lived only a few blocks from the studio. there were, conveniently, a few food places between them, so he really was living in a prime location.Ā
āmhm, whatever. iāve seen you. when you actually eat you can really pack it away - i think you must have hollow legs or somethinā,ā levi teases, laugh leaving his lips.Ā āwhatāre we gettinā tonight, anyway? you got any preferences?ā
āyeah, yeah. uh-huh.ā rhi mocked, though it was obvious she was joking, the teasing smirk wouldnāt leave her lips.
she waved his apology off, shaking her head.Ā āno, no. youāre fine. it wasnāt horrible, i just knew you mustāve been doing some pretty serious work over here.ā again, rhiannon was so used to the dull aches in pains that came from levi that half of the time, she started believing that they were her own.
āimpossible. i can control the wind.ā she joked, though she knew he was right. her parents still complained about her poor eating habits whenever she went over to visit, which was pretty often as long as they were home. it just seemed like she was always too busy to prepare something other than a sandwich or a bowl of cereal.Ā
at his offer, rhiannon nodded.Ā āthatād be awesome. i promise not to order the whole menu.ā
āthatās what you get for bonding with an old man, i guess. better get used to it,ā levi teases, mouth curling up.Ā āitās only gonna get worse.āĀ
levi herds rhi towards the back of the shop, through the storeroom and out through the back door. he pauses to lock up before he steps off the concrete stoop and into the alley, shrugging into his jacket. he slings his arm around her shoulders in a friendly sort of fashion as they head off - she really was the perfect height for that kind of shit. standing next to her always made levi feel like a giant. well, like more of a giant than he already was.
āyeah well, iām gonna say i told you so when i see you blowinā down the street one day,ā levi retorts, before shrugging.Ā ādonāt make any promises you canāt keep, rhi.āĀ
āyou called me bro.Ā ācourse i would.ā she joked, walking over to where the designs were sprawled along the wall, looking them over nonchalantly. rhiannon tended to drift to that area every time she came in, never failing to find the beauty in all of the different designs drawn by levi and the other artists there.Ā
āand i could tell. my neckās been bugging me all day.ā rhiannon added, eyes never moving from a particular design that was undoubtedly a work of leviās. she knew his style by now.
she turned around to face him at the mention of food, trying not to nod with too much vigor. it was a bad habit of hers to forget to eat actual meals. rhiannon would snack here and there when she was working, but she wasnāt the biggest fan of eating breakfast during the week.Ā āiām literally starving. the last thing i ate was trail mix and that was at, like, six oāclock.ā
āi didnāt know it was you!ā levi protests, drying hands on some paper towels before he pads back over. he steps out the front door to pull down the front roller door before stepping back inside, shutting and locking the front door too.Ā
āsorry about that - i was doinā a back piece today. kidās a former footballer so heās got some pretty wide shoulders,ā levi complains, as if his own werenāt disgustingly broad. he flips off some of the front lights, leaving the ones in the back on before he moves behind the counter to start getting his stuff together. the autoclave had clicked off not long ago - heād done all his sterilisation already, so levi was pretty much free to go.Ā
levi slips on his jacket, making sure he has his wallet before he steps towards rhi.Ā
āyou really need to stop doinā that - youāll start blowinā away when it gets windy,ā levi chides - he definitely had a little Dad sort of tone that he trotted out now and again. usually he saved that for his daughter, but sometimes it crept out through concern for friends.Ā
āyou wanna get some takeout or somethinā? my shout.āĀ
rhiannonās day at work was pretty mundane. some people came in wanting to know what tea was popular now that it was officially summertime while others came to her asking about prices of specially designed rings. all day, though, she felt sore. her neck was mostly what had her constantly rubbing at it to alleviate the pain. at first, she thought she mustāve slept wrong the previous night, but she narrowed it down to levi. he mustāve been working on a piece for a while, which would explain why it started as a gradual ache.Ā
thatās how it usually went, anyways. his pain ever wasnāt strong enough to make a huge difference in her days. if anything, it was always a dull sensation that would bother her momentarily before disappearing altogether - just letting her know that how he was feeling.
after closing everything up at the shop, she went right to the tattoo shop, not really intending to do anything other than bug him for a bit while he cleaned up. rhi opened the door, automatically smirking when levi spoke.
āand here i was ready to offer up a neck massage and a hot meal. that offer might be off the table now.ā
levi straightens when he hears the familiar voice - heās surprised he hadnāt picked up on the bond before then. thatās how it was, sometimes, when he was a bit tired or really focused on something else.Ā
a smile slips onto his mouth as his eyes fall on the familiar figure, abandoning his studious scrubbing for a moment.Ā
āhey rhi,ā he replies, tone warmer than it had been - heād had a more business-like tone when warning the door-opener of them being closed. he found it easier to be a bit brusque in times like that - people were less likely to question or hassle him if he put on hisĀ ādonāt fuck with meā voice and rounded his shoulders. his size came in handy there.Ā
āoh, ouch. cāmon,ā he adds, pulling a face.Ā āyouād do that to me? iām really sufferinā here.ā he pulls another place as he moves back to wiping. it takes him a moment more before heās tossing away the wipe and shucking off his gloves, moving to wash his hands.Ā
āiām nearly done,ā he continues after a moment, glancing back at rhiannon over one shoulder.Ā āyou wanna go get somethinā to eat after this?ā
āDonāt you work here,ā Cora asked, clearly surprised by the manās words.Ā āIf I do that, itāll surely get me to stay away from a tattoo shop. I am a terrible artist. Iāll just thinkĀ āDear God, what was going on in my head to think a tattoo would be a good idea?āā
āi do,ā he replies with a nod, a laugh peeling from his lips at what she says next.Ā āshit, yeah. maybe you shouldnāt go down that route.āĀ
āyou donāt have to get one, yāknow. itās not a decision you have to make today. or, yāknow, ever.ā
levi hunches a little over his station, in the final phases of breakdown and cleaning. itād been a long day - heād had a multiple hour session with a client to lay down the ground work for a back piece. heād run late too - everyone else had packed up and gone home, and heād been left to close up. he doesnāt mind - he likes the quiet at the end of the night, with all the machines off.Ā
levi doesnāt lift his head when the bell above the door tinkles, a soft gust of cool night air flowing into the studio as someone enters. he sighs, not looking up as he wipes down the vinyl of the chair. heās tired - his neck is sore from where heād been hunched over the client for god knows how many hours, wrist and hand a little tense from the vibrations of the machine. he was getting old, man.Ā
āweāre closed, bro. youāre gonna have to come back tomorrow.ā
Though she loves her family dearly sometimes Juliet canāt help but wonder if she was in fact adopted, if it wasnāt for the banshee gene sheād be certain of it. She did not posses the amount of generosity that the entire Prattes family seemed to have in abundance, by the time she came around as the youngest of the bunch they must have ran out. And so here she is grumbling and cursing, mostly under her breath, as she attempts to shove the latest donations for the safe house into her little car for the third time. Each time it all falls out Juliet gets worked up more and more, and so when she feels eyes upon her she reacts before her brain can process her wordsĀ āEyes at sea level or I pop them out.ā
levi cocks a brow, slowly his approach. heād seen the stranger struggling and he figured heād lend a hand - at his size it was really all he was useful for.Ā
āi was just wonderinā if you needed a hand,ā levi offers, tone light despite the warning she offers him. his mouth curls at the corner in a friendly sort of smile, hands tucking into the pockets of his jeans.Ā āyou looked like you were strugglinā.ā
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā āIāve never understood the drive behind being nastyĀ to a public servant.ā Comical, considering Valentine was nasty in just about everything he did. But the visage of charmingĀ he had crafted was a careful one ā most people believed he was a generous, if not kindĀ man.Ā āI live for the idea that waiters spit in the food of those who give them grief.ā
āpeople are fuckinā assholes, man,ā levi says, as if itās some great well-known truth. he shakes his head a little bit, lip curling.Ā āpeople take their shitty day out on the kids who make their coffee.ā
āyouād think theyād be nicer to people workinā minimum wage, but yāknow. people have superiority complexes about that shit.ā
āTo be honest, Iām not entirely sure if I want to get a tattoo. I mean, Iāve always liked a strong Celtic knot, which are great as tattoos, but theyāre so permanent, you know?ā Cora let out a soft sigh, silently pleased that it wasnāt obscured by her nasal cannula that day. Her eyes scanned over the wall of tattoo options, the uncertainty in her eyes growing more obvious by the second.
levi cocks a brow, head tilting to one side as he considers the womanās words.Ā āthe first one is always the hardest,ā he replies with a sage little nod, as if he were some expert. he did have a good handful of pieces himself, and heād tattooed more people than he could count, but yāknow. it was different for everyone.Ā
āi had a client once draw a tattoo on their arm everyday for nearly six months to make sure they really wanted it,ā he says, laugh puffing from his lips.Ā āyou could always try that.ā
hey yall! iām r, iām 21 and iām from nz and this is my big dumb son!! iām mad excited to be here to muck around on levi w/ all the awesome characters here! iām gonna give you guys a quick (not so quick iām the worst!!) rundown on levi as a person below the cut - pls bear with me. heās a muse iāve had for a v long time so i have a lot of word vomiting to do! iāll try to keep it as short and sweet as i can for coherencyās sake. pls pray for me. iāll make sure to put a tl;dr at the bottom tho!! also like this if u want me to hit you up for plots!!Ā
so levi was born kaimana kekoa in 1980 (ya boi old) in wailuku, maui. his dad lani was a construction worker and his mom aoife was an artist and they shared a house w/ his grandma whoās basically the hardest and baddest old boat mechanic in hawaiāi so his childhood was interesting af.
Ā he was pretty shy p much from birth, so he spent a lot of time with his parents and grandmother. he grew up spending most of his time in the water or doing arty stuff with his mom. to this day heās still king water baby - get him in a lake or river or (preferably) the ocean and heās happy bih!! thatās how he made friends in hawaiāi - he basically just hung out with some older surfer kids.Ā
when levi was 8 his family moved stateside. they moved to the town in oregon where his mom had grown up, as sheād gotten a job teaching art at the local high school. it wasnāt long after that that his father was turned by a member of a local werewolf pack. after getting in a fight one night after work with one of his construction buddies, he was bitten and turned.Ā
things were hard for lani and his family at first - they were brought into the pack for protection, while his father learnt how to control himself. levi was kinda freaked out to begin with, though he slowly adjusted - his grandmother had been big time into old school hawaiāian spirituality and witchcraft so heād had some prior experience with supernatural stuff. though heād never thought his gran was legit so he was still pretty shocked.Ā
levi and his parents soon found a space within the pack - with their connections to a nearby coven his father was able to get a moonlight ring, and cease presenting such a danger to his human family. levi and his mother were both offered the bite - his mother refused for them both, saying that levi wasnāt old enough and that she wanted to make the decision later in life.Ā
things settled down after a while, with levi attending a local school - he made a few friends amongst both human and wolf children, earning the nickname he carries to this day - levi. heās still not sure what made them pick that name - one girl simply said he looked like a levi, and it was easier for them to pronounce than kaimana so he simply accepted it and moved on.Ā
in highschool levi began dating a member of the pack, a woman of a similar age to him named ramona frasqueri. they were together throughout the remainder of school, and even into college. they had their first child together not too long after graduation - levi was 22 when his daughter was born. they named her healani after leviās grandmother - though she was born to a wolf mother, they were unsure as to whether or not she had the gene, as ramona was turned, not born.Ā
levi and ramona split not long after healaniās first birthday - theyād been together for a long time, but theyād both changed a hell of a lot. that was what happened, sometimes, with childhood sweethearts. it was hard, but in the end it was pretty mutual - theyād both just grown apart as they grew into adults. after a short period of awkwardness, theyād remained close friends. levi remained a devoted father to healani - he loved his kid more than anything.
at the time levi was working with his father in construction - heād gone to art school as itād always interested him - with his degree he hadnāt really found a career path that suited him. he liked art, but he hadnāt found something he loved. he came close with soaping - itād been something heād picked up for a project in college, and a hobby heād continued. he sold his soap locally - it was all pretty beautiful stuff, not necessarily something you expected from a man who looked like he did. rough hewn dark soaps that looked like pieces of shale, flecked green-grey and black and smelling like sandalwood. salty pieces of charcoal-based soaps in pure black, fruity floral ones in jewel tones cut to look like gems. like, move over lush. leviās in the building. it didnāt make him much money, but it paid for itself and gave him a bit of saving money left over.Ā
when levi was 25 a friend of his motherās introduced him to the idea of becoming a tattooist - heād never even considered that before, surprisingly. it immediately sparked an interest in him - more than soaping ever had. under the tutelage of his motherās friend, levi embarked on a tattooing apprenticeship, leaving construction behind. he took to it quite well - she was a witch, so she made sure to teach him how to tattoo more than just humans. he learnt how to make ink suitable for the flesh of all kinds of supernatural creatures - while he had no magical abilities, she passed on knowledge of protective and runic tattooing, alongside helping levi develop a style of his own.Ā
he spent three years working and learning with his mentor - he established himself as a tattooist and grew confidence in his art. he continued to work in her shop one town over after becoming a tattooist in his own right. it paid well enough - he continued with a little bit of soaping on the side to help prop up his income.Ā
in 2011 levi, after much consideration, returned to hawaiāi . it was hard to leave his parents and his daughter, as well as the pack. he still had a place amongst the werewolves his father ran with - the offer to turn him remained. but at the time, he wanted to go home - back to where heād grown up to learn more tattooing. he wanted to learn kakau from an expert in the process - tattooing was a big part of his culture, and he wanted to help keep it alive.Ā
leviās grandma put him in contact with a samoan man living in hawaiāi Ā who taught the use of hand tools. levi applied to be taught by theĀ tufuga ta tatau (master tattooist), and then spent two years learning under him. it was hard to be away from his daughter for so long, but this was important to him - she came and lived with him during the summer, which helped a lot. during his second apprenticeship, levi also learnt from a few hawaiāian tattooists who also worked with hand tools, tattooing traditional hawaiāian designs.Ā
levi returned to oregon in 2014 with a small collection of new tattoos and a fount of new knowledge. he found himself a place working at inkinc, eking out a little corner for himself in the industry.Ā
it wasnāt long after his return that the war began - his mother was turned by his father in order to stay safe, and his ex turned their daughter. levi accepted that, and agreed to it - he was lucky enough to be bonded to a friend of the family, the daughter of the man who made his fatherās moonlight ring, rhiannon ( @ofrhiannonsā ). he considered taking the bite before that, but eventually decided against it, instead letting himself be taken under rhiannonās wing.Ā
levi still works as a tattooist now - his daughter lives with him part-time, spending the rest with her mother. levi is still in close contact with his parents and the pack he grew up in.
TL;DR:
so basically levi is a tattooist from hawaiāi whoās lived in safe haven on and off since he was a kid. his dad was bitten by a werewolf when levi was 8 and was turned. levi had a daughter when he was 22 with his werewolf gf at the time and theyāre now broken up. he spent a few years back in hawaiāi learning tatau and now works at ink inc. personality wise heās a v friendly guy, pretty laidback and easy-going though when he gets mad itās fuckin serious. heās very stubborn and quite competitive, especially with himself. he is lowkey self-loathing af, and doesnāt often show himself the kindness he gives to others. heās a Dad Friend to the core.
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